Ha! saw this during a wikipedia browsing session. Kinda made my day! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Zhingchak_(comics).

JZ was a real blast to write. I have fond memories of writing it. The character of Bhappi-da, the last of the DISCO gods is hands down my favorite ever, closely followed by Fukku Bhai from Mumbai Macguffin. Last I heard (from semi-realiable sources) UTV was making a movie out of it. Wonders of work-for-hire! I’m not involved in that. But will go watch the movie when (and if) it gets made.

Aieeee Saaalaaa!

Oh! and I used to maintain a kind of scrapbook of Zhingchak sightings on the wild wild web. You can find it here.

About Jimmy Zhingchak

JIMMY ZHINGCHAK – AGENT OF D.I.S.C.O., written by Saurav Mohapatra and drawn by Anupam Sinha, is a spoof and a homage of ’80s bollywood disco zeitgeist, detailing the adventures of a disco dancing superspy who fights Sir John and his evil F.I.R.A.N.G. for the Dept. of Internal Security and Covert Operations (D.I.S.C.O.) [more..]

Way before Benny Lava …. Much before Zhingchak… Gaudy Heroism had a patron saint… his name :
Quick Gun Murugan.

what started off as this

has become this (finally!!! )

Quick Gun Murugan – The Motion Picture coming soon to a screen near you.

As per fellow IIT KGP alumnus Pankaj Sethi, who pointed me to :  http://seattle.aidindia.org/chakraview

More zhingchak… this time from CNN/IBN.

Full Story

Here is the Video Link on AOL video.

Excerpt from the article

Bring out the bell bottoms, pump up the disco music and prepare for a blast from the past – Jimmy Zhingchak-Agent of Disco is the latest superhero to dance his way into a graphic novel by UTV Spotboy and Virgin Comics.

Filmy clichés abound in this tongue-in-cheek comic series that has Jimmy right out of a 80′s Bollywood masala flick.

So you have the quintessential villain Sir John, the old mother a la Nirupa Roy and then you have the dialogues that defined Bollywood in the 70′s and the 80′s. And best of all, Jimmy’s weapons of choice are his disco moves, just like a certain Mithun Chakraborty who has written the foreword.

Now, I ain’t one to crib (much), but would be nice to have an itty bitty mention somewhere in all this deluge of Zhingchak Euphoria.

DNA (Daily News and Analysis) has posted a nice article about Jimmy Zhingchak – Agent of D.I.S.C.O. (thankfully they got the name right and it’s not typo’d as Jimmy Zhinchak ).

 Full Article Text

Excerpt from the article :

The comic is replete with other Hindi film references, dialogues and situations: Mithun’s sidekick-turned-girlfriend is Agent Mala D; his nemesis is Sir John (who looks like the villain from the film Ram Lakhan) and Jimmy even has a separated-at-birth brother, Johnny.

Hindi film stars are ideal comic book material, says founder-president of Virgin Comics Suresh Seetharaman, because they are already larger-than-life.

…

[Vikas] Bahl  [COO / UTV SpotBoy] says his organisation is going the other way and has an eye on the Mithun comic’s “extendability” into other media. “We would like to follow up the comic with a motion picture, a TV show, an animation series and maybe even a game,” he adds.

Bless you DNA and may the zhingchak be with you!

Well looks like lotsa folks are writing about Jimmy Z, but they have typo’d the title as “Jimmy Zhinchak” instead of Jimmy zhingchak. Who cares… a rose by any other name… blah blah…

but wait… google does differentiate… so here goes google foot print of Jimmy Zhingchak/Zhinchak

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=zhinchak+comics&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=zhingchak+comics&btnG=Search 

For those who googled for zhinchak … Here are some links you’ve missed

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=115

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=114

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=112

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=111

May the Zhingchak be with you!

PS: Really feels good to have created something that so many people are njoying. As Jimmy zhinchak / jimmy zhingchak – agent of DISCO would say… “Aieee Saalaaa”.

Now The Telegraph has done their bit in unleashing the Zhingchak. Here is the link to the piece in their Limelight section.

Well, Jimmy Zhingchak seems to be doing quite a boogey these days . Looks like there is a market after all for 80′s DISCO. Yeah behveee and aiee saala and all that.

It’s kinda a kicker for me since Jimmy Zhingchak (even the word Zhingchak itself) harks back to a simpler more ….ummm… zhinghcakier time from 1995-99, the four best years of my life spent in the rockingest place on earth…. IIT Kharagpur

Jimmy was born after too many idle nights of desi tharra (5 bucks a pouch from the dhaba by the national highway ) and of course shyamal special pudias induced lying on the rooftop connecting stars playing connect the dots type of thing.

Idle minds they say are the devil’s workshop

Anyways nostalgia later…

Here are some more news links:

Tehelka.com coverage

SHINEY, TIGHTY, WHITEY

Don Muthusami may have died in the water but there are people who still love a shinier, happier time when Mithun Chakraborty ruled. Sri Lankan singer MIA’s disco ball-laden Jimmy Jimmy is not the only tribute. Virgin Comics is about to release a new comic with a superhero called Jimmy Zhingchak, Agent Of D.I.S.C.O. The superhero has Mithun’s trademark clothes, walk and a great line in cheesy patter. And Jimmy will be released in the US soon. Hey, what about us?

Bollywood Hungama / IndiaFM coverage:

Confirming the news with Bollywood Hungama, COO of UTV Spotboy, Vikas Bahl informs, “Basically, the idea of releasing a comic book based on a famous Bollywood character came up after having a look at the current scenario of comic books which are targeting small kids or have sci-fi theme. So, we thought of something out of the box and came out with the book that features the character Jimmy who plays a fighter on the disco floor.”

Well it’s finally here, Jimmy Zhingchak – Agent of D.I.S.C.O. is now out in comic book stores across the US and also available for purchase at Virgin Comics Store

And the initial reaction has been great

Raja Sen of Rediff.com did a “First Look” review.

In the blogopshere, reviews have started popping up and in general the comic seems to have been received in the right spirit (I’ve always maintained its equal parts homage and spoof, I simply can’t stress enough, how much my fragile little mind was warped by the Electric Bugaloo of 80′s Bollywood.)

Here is a brief list of reviews (I shall update the post as I find more)

Rediff.com First Look : http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/jun/03look.htm
Comickal Review : http://iainpj.livejournal.com/93892.html

Animation Express Article : http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=9021

they misspelt my name as “Sorav”

Rediff has a review up about my new release Jimmy Zhingchak, Agent of D.I.S.C.O.

An excerpt from the review:

Jimmy Zhingchak, Agent Of D.I.S.C.O is one of the latest comics on the Virgin assembly line, and the first issue on stands across the US right now. A collaboration between Virgin Comics and UTV Spotboy — who surely want to make this into a film — this is one mad trip down 70s road.

Writer Saurav Mohapatra channels his inner Manmohan Desai, tosses in a dash of Mad Magazine, and emerges with a comic that is likely to have Farah Khan chuckling awhile.